Sex determination racket busted in Kallakurichi, two arrested

KALLAKURICHI: A 37-year-old man and his broker were arrested on charges of running an illegal scan centre in Kallakurichi and performing tests illegally to determine the sex of the foetus and terminate female foetuses.
The arrested were identified as M Ranjith Kumar of Kallakurichi and his broker R Vanitha, 33. They were remanded in judicial custody.
Inquiries revealed that Kumar had been arrested earlier by Dharmapuri health and police officials on similar charges four months ago. After coming out on bail, he again set up illegal scan centres at Salem and Kallakurichi.
National Health Mission coordinator (Kallakurichi) Senthil Menon said the directorate of health and family welfare services received a tip-off that Kumar again set up illegal scan centres to determine the sex of foetuses and terminate female foetuses.
His broker Vanitha used to fetch clients from Dharmapuri, Salem, Kallakurichi, Tirupattur and Krishnagiri districts. She arranged 12 pregnant women for sex determination, and Kumar directed 10 of them to come to the illegal centre in Salem and two to the Kallakurichi centre. One of the two women was a decoy arranged by the Dharmapuri health officials.
The officials and police undertook a surprise inspection when the decoy was called for scanning and caught Kumar red-handed. The officials also arrested Vanitha and seized the medical equipment used for scanning and accessories.
"He (Kumar) was booked under various sections of the BNS and the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994. He is a repeated offender. He came out on bail recently and again started his criminal activities. We will be recommending the district collector to invoke the Goondas Act against him," said Menon.